A group called Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has launched some billboards in Fargo calling out North Dakota State University for using live pigs as practice subjects in trauma life support training classes. According to this WDAY report, the group has sent a letter to NDSU President Dean Bresciani demanding that the university stop the practice.…
NDSU President's "Business Class" Plane Ticket To India Cost Thousands Extra
I see the Fargo Forum picked up on my story from yesterday about NDSU President Dean Bresciani traveling to India with a first class ticket which cost nearly $8,300 (no hat tip for me in the story though, unfortunately). According to the Forum NDUS Chancellor Mark Hagerott is going to investigate whether Bresciani broke policy prohibiting the…
John Andrist: Want To Avoid Poverty? Get Married
A Wall Street Journal story, “The poverty cure: Get married” caught my eye last week. The thesis was that poverty is more closely tied to marriage than any other factor, including the quality of the school your children attend. It was full of statistics, but what grabbed my eye is that 71 percent of African-American…
North Dakota's Two Biggest Universities Score Low For Value
College rankings can be tricky business. But they’re also big business. For instance, the annual ranking of universities by U.S. News & World Report has become so influential in terms of driving students to the campuses which do well that some less-than-scrupulous institutions have taken to gaming them. Others criticize the rankings. As The Economist notes:…
ND Supreme Court: Campus Police Have No Jurisdiction Off Campus
The North Dakota Supreme Court today handed down a significant ruling in a DUI case today which limits the jurisdiction of campus police officers, and may call into question why the universities have their own police departments in the first place. You can read the full opinion below, but basically the defendant in the case…
NDSU Student Government Candidates Want Booze At Bison Games
Two students running for President and Vice President of the student government at North Dakota State University want to open up Bison games to alcohol sales, and they’re making a pretty interesting argument for it. You can read their full press release below, but this jumped out at me: Under their “Your Campus, Your Voice”…
SBHE Candidate Steps Down After SAB Post
Yesterday I wrote about SBHE member Kevin Melicher embarrassing himself during testimony before a Senate committee. The guy was clueless about some of the scandals which happened at Dickinson State University, though today the Fargo Forum editorializes in his defense which isn’t surprising because he’s definitely a rubber stamp for NDSU on the board (the guy is…
Rod St. Aubyn: Should Contracts For Public Officials Even Exist?
In the past few years news reports have brought to light activities that resulted in the resignation/termination of several public officials. As the stories evolved it was reported that based on contract terms or negotiated settlements these public officials were awarded some types of severance payments. Some recent examples – According to a Forum News…
Revealed Priorities: Football Game Trumps NDSU Graduation Ceremony
I thought this letter to the Fargo Forum from the mother of a NDSU student – one Susan Nilson of Minot – makes an excellent point about the NDSU graduation ceremony controversy. An excerpt: I am a mother of a student who will be graduating on Friday. I would like to express how disgusted, saddened,…
Maybe NDSU Could Keep Its Buildings In Repair If It Wasn't Subsidizing Athletics Programs
Lately our university system, which a larger increase in appropriations than any other system of public universities in the country, has been bemoaning the condition of their buildings. As the payroll for our universities has bloated with administrative hiring and university presidents live like pharaohs (the president of NDSU literally has a chauffeur/bodyguard and lives in the…